1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for manufacturing a circuit structure body in which an electric power circuit has a plurality of bus bars.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an electric connection box including a bus bar substrate has been well known as a circuit structure body forming an electric power circuit which is mounted in a vehicle. The bus bar substrate is structured such that a bus bar and an insulation plate are alternatively layered to form a distribution circuit for distributing electric power from a common in-vehicle power source to each electrical component so that a fuse and/or a relay switch are/is mounted at appropriate positions therein.
Further, a circuit structure body whose electric connection box is simplified and thin-shaped has been recently developed.
For example, JP-A-2001-268785 described below discloses a circuit structure body (which is referred to as a power distributor in the JP-A-2001-268785) forming bus bars for providing an electric power circuit (which is referred to as a distribution circuit in the JP-A-2001-268785) being arranged on a substantially plane face so that these bus bars are integrated by resin molding and semiconductor switching elements such as an FET are mounted at appropriate positions. This circuit structure body can be produced in such a manner that a bus bar structure plate in which the bus bars are integrated is stamped out of a single metal plate, the stamped plate is resin molded and positions at which the bus bars are connected are appropriately separated.
In the circuit structure body as set forth in JP-A-2001-268785, the electric power circuit composed of the bus bars is generally not commonly used for all vehicles, however, the circuit configuration is appropriately changed depending on vehicle type, grade, or destination, for example. In this case, a bus bar structure plate having different arrangement patterns must be produced for each change in the circuit configuration. Accordingly, as the types of electric power circuits are increased, the greater the number of production, lowering mass' production performance and thus hindering cost reductions.